Got Something Wrong
by Thoughtless4u
Summary: DI Hardy has never felt so alive as he did after his surgery, and together with Miller he pushes Lee and Claire Ashworth to their limits. Feeling the fire under them, Lee makes one last risky step to prevent the truth about Pippa and Lisa coming out, tagging Claire along with him. While leaving Hardy to die and misleading Miller, they make a run for it... How far will they get?
1. Chapter 1: The beginning

**Got something wrong**

Because I couldn't control my thoughts about BC any longer! This story is set at the end of season 2, when the truth about Pippa and Lisa is just a small step away. First storyline is slightly adapted from the original season plot, including some of the lines to refresh your memories.

 **Summary: DI Hardy has never felt so alive as he did after his surgery, and together with Miller he pushes Lee and Claire Ashworth to their limits. Feeling the fire under them, Lee makes one last risky step to prevent the truth about Pippa and Lisa coming out, tagging Claire along with him. While leaving Hardy to die and misleading Miller, they make a run for it. But they didn't count on the wittiness of DS Miller too eager to track down and bring justice to the couple. But will she be in time to save Hardy? And can she find them without him?**

* * *

Although still half restless, DI Alec Hardy awakes from the most peaceful sleep he had in months. He almost feels a smile creep onto his face when he hears low chatter from the small living room. He looks to his left and sees his ex-wife and Miller quietly studying several documents on the table in front of them.

"What is going on?" He asks when he tries to sit upright. He gets a slight shock on the left side of his chest and is just able to prevent a yelp to come out of his mouth. _Ah, the pacemaker must work. Or is it the ICD?_ He doesn't know, and actually doesn't care. It works. And he is alive! His trial of thoughts is interrupted by the voice of his ex-wife.

"Good morning, cup of tea?" She probably knows him too well since she already walks towards the kitchen to make him some.

He sees Miller carefully looking at him, a smile half suppressed yet also half visible when she watches him climb out of bed and quite smoothly puts his shirt over his head with only one arm able to do the ask.

"Claire is gone from the house, then I found a pile of ash in the sink, presumably of where she burned the photograph of herself wearing this pendant." To interrupt her trail of thoughts and especially the thought where she is thinking about her DI actually looking _good_ without the look of dead and exhaustion on his face, she starts talking about her latest discovery.

"You mean Pippa's pendant actually belonged to Claire?" He asks with his face one full of surprise.

"Well, Claire was wearing it in the photograph I saw. She must have giving it to Pippa or something."

At that moment, Tess enters the room again and hands a steaming cup of tea to Hardy, all the while touching his back softly. _For much too long_ , is the only thing Ellie can come up with. Hardy hardly seems to notice.

"And now she has burned the photo. She panicking, that's good aye, I like it when they panic." He looks as Tess instead of Ellie. Too eager to not look at the scene before her, Ellie continues her theory.

"But what, Claire kills the girls and Lee covers for her? What would be her motive? Unless she was grooming Pippa for Lee."

"I knew I had seen this name before, Gary Thorp." Tess interrupts the trail of thoughts both other detectives were having.

"You mean as from Thorp Agriservices." Miller tries.

Tess continues "Yeah, but he was also in the invite list for the wedding Ricky and Cate went to, but he never showed up." She wiggles her eyebrows towards Hardy. His expression of surprise hadn't left his face yet.

"So, he knew Ricky and Cate and we never talked to him?"

"There was no connection until now, I will get onto it. And no, we are not reopening the case." Tess looks determined when a sparkle of hope enters Hardy's eyes, a sparkle that again soon disappears. "What you two are gonna do?"

"Miller is gonna give Claire one last chance to confess."

"Am I?" Ellie is not sure whether her former boss is saying this because he trusts her with it, or because he just likes bossing around. She gives up, knowing full well she will end up doing what he asks of her anyway. _Because in the end, he is almost always right._

Alec, indeed, has never felt so alive. "Yes. We will set fire under her."

* * *

Ellie Miller walks back from the beach to her own house, _her old house_ , after a fiercely conversation with Claire. She didn't think her words made the other woman any closer to confessing, and meanwhile she couldn't stop thinking about the words Claire had said.

 _"What is the truth bringing us now?"_

 _"Peace for the families, Claire."_

" _Really? Those parents, of the boy your husband has killed, are they at peace now? No, I didn't think so. I had a life Ellie, and it was destroyed. When is it ever going to stop?"_

 _Are they at peace now?_ Ellie keeps on twirling and twirling these words over and over again in her head. What was she thinking? Did she really think that her life could go back to normal once Joe had been convicted and would be locked away for years? She really thought the Latimer family could forgive her for sleeping next to the killer for all those months? Keeping him up to date? She missed Beth's friendship so much. But deep in her heart, she knew her life would never come back.

She looked up to the sky right before leaving the beach. This is my life now. Lonely. Bitter, solving other people's problems while her problems just kept piling up and no one left to help her. Joe. Tom. Fred growing up and in need of knowing what happened. She very well knows that Hardy will leave the minute the Sandbrook-case is solved and Joe will be convicted, and although a cow probably has a better human interaction than her former boss did, she would miss him. She would miss him just to banter with, and especially to scold with. The scolding helped. Really helped, actually. But all would be lost soon. There was no way back now.

She quickly turned ahead and headed towards the house, not once looking back again.

* * *

The climb upwards to Lee's place in the field was a lighter one, without the constant feeling of exhaustion and pain all over his body. Hardy actually truly enjoyed the walk, and a smile just kept on creeping onto his face. _Why didn't I do this surgery sooner again?_ He almost laughed about his own joke when he came face to face with Lee, whom had seen him coming and had walked towards him with a nasty air of arrogance surrounding him.

"What do you want this time?" Lee asks.

"I actually came to say thank you." Hardy smiled when he saw the look of surprise on his nemesis' face.

"For what?"

"The police of South Mercia have authorized the Sandbrook-case to be reopened. New leads, new evidence, we couldn't have done that without you, all the information you gave me. It won't take long to wrap up now." Hardy sees the way Lee stares at him.

"Are you all right? There is something different about you, fella."

Although Hardy would rather punch him in the face for calling him fella, he doesn't intend to let Lee destroy his hope for salvation and happiness after all.

"I am more than alright Lee, I am reborn. I thought this case would kill me before I had a chance to solve it, not knowing having failed. But then I had an operation. And after that, when I woke up, and I was alive because I didn't expect to be alive, you know the first thing I felt?"

"What?"

"Angry. Really properly angry. For the Gillespie's, for Pippa, for Lisa. I haven't felt that angry in years, that is a beautiful feeling. I was worn out, tired, I was beaten. Now I am again alive. But you, you look exhausted. Sick of running, so sick that you can't escape of what happened. And I get it." The detective in him noticed the slight change in facial expression of the man in front of him.

"You don't get anything about me."

"What I don't get, is whether you are lying to protect yourself or someone else? Because you were with Claire. I always thought she was lying to protect you. Maybe it is the other way around. You can't trust her." Hardy feels Lee is getting angry now too. _Exactly what I need._

"You are wrong."

"Am I? Did she ever tell you she was pregnant?" A sting of quilt creeps up on him, knowing he just broke the bond he had with Claire and shattered it to pieces. But hadn't she done so herself as well? He did indeed found out one thing about the woman. _She can't be trusted._

"You are lying."

"Why don't you ask her?" And Hardy turns around with the ease of a young man again, leaving behind a startled Lee Ashworth.

* * *

After the big fight and many gallons of sea water later, Lee still holds Claire's head and hair firmly in his grip while asking the two most prominent questions he can come up with. Especially the first question triggers him the most.

"How did Alec Hardy knew?" He looks Claire straight in the eye and knows her answer was going to be the truth.

"He came to the clinic with me and stayed with me. He stayed with me." Although Lee sees that Claire's mostly angry with Hardy right now, he can't help it but sees right through that and the adoration of Claire for the detective becomes clear. Claire has been getting fond of the detective then. But how fond? The anger inside of Lee is getting worse by the second. _God, how much I hate that detective. He destroyed everything and would have continued so if it wasn't for his stupid wife banging another man._

"Was the baby mine?" Although her next answer is sincere enough, he can't help but feels getting angrier.

"You have to ask that? After everything I have done for you? I don't want you near me."

When he sees here making her way out of the water and away from him, further and further away, Lee reaches his conclusions after so many months of getting away with it all.

 _He cannot lose Claire. And he cannot go to jail._

* * *

DI Alec Hardy patiently waits on the side of the boardwalk while awaiting Lee's arrival. His second meeting with his true enemy in a day now. After Miller's discovery of Lee knowing Lisa much better than he let on, Hardy couldn't control the urge to meet Lee again, giving him one more chance to confess rather than to keep running away. He feels he is closing in on Lee, and he wants him to bloody know it. He barely lifts his head when Lee finally comes into focus. He let the other man start the conversation.

"What does that text mean 'I got something wrong?'"

"Spoken to Claire yet?" Lee grits his teeth.

"What do you want?"

This is the sign for Hardy to start firing questions at him.

"Ever sleep with Lisa Newbery?"

"No."

"You wanted to?"

"No."

"She turned you down?"

"No."

"What did Claire make of you and Lisa?"

"There was no me and Lisa. I barely even spoke to her."

"Right, just slept with her. What is it like to kill someone, Lee? What is it like to be with someone in the room when the life goes out of a person? How does it feel to be responsible for that?"

"I told ya, I don't know."

"I think you do. I look at you as someone who is stained by death. It haunts you every day. Just confess Lee, I'm nearly there anyway."

"I have nothing else to say."

"I think you and Claire have still plenty left to say. I'm gonna make you say it."

When Lee sees Detective Hardy walking away with a pace of a new-born man, he feels like watching his doom coming closer with every step the detective takes. _This guy steals the only woman I have ever loved away from me, and will put me behind bars for the rest of my life._ When he thinks about it, the chills are running up his spine. He can't. He can't let it happen. This detective needs to be eliminated, and he needs to get away from here. With Claire.

Now determined, Lee starts walking away towards his car and drives towards one other person he still hopes is willing to help him.

 _He needs to be eliminated._

* * *

So, this is it. Chapter one. Mostly a recap of the conversations of the episode, therefore I'll post chapter two immediately, so you'll get a feeling where this story is going.

Of course, let me know if I should continue this story and if you have any thoughts about it :)


	2. Chapter 2: The outburst

As from now on, the story will be different from the TV-show.

* * *

No. This can't be true. He must've bribed the jury. Blackmailed them. Gotten help from the inside. This can't be the end of it.

 _N_ _ot guilty._

Ellie just doesn't understand. She feels so many emotions at the same time now, that she ends up looking blankly across from the balcony of the courthouse.

 _Not guilty._

She has expected so many things, but not this. There is one thing Joe Miller isn't, and that is not guilty. He killed Danny, kept it a secret for so long, pretending like everything's normal. The worst of them all is NOT GUILTY? The anger is boiling up inside her, but is soon replaced by absolute, total desperation when she sees the rest of the Latimer family together with their attorneys in the courtroom where everything just happened. They will not overcome this and she knows it.

Everything is destroyed. And she has been the cause. If she hadn't met Beth, Joe wouldn't have known Danny. None of this would have happened. And they must feel that too.

It was her fault.

She jumps a little when Hardy lightly touches her right shoulder to get her attention. She abruptly turns around and stares at him like a lioness who is hunting and sees her prey getting stolen away from her. He doesn't seem to notice (or might already be used to the look) and starts to talk in a low voice.

"Let's get away from here, Miller."

She can only look at him dumbfounded. "Sorry, what?!"

"There's nothing you can do here. While you can help catch a killer who is not getting away with it."

The anger boils in her while she tries to apprehend what Hardy is implying.

"You seriously think I'm gonna go with you now? You forgot what just happened there? THEY LET GO OF MY MURDEROUS HUSBAND. BECAUSE I DIDN'T SEE THAT THE WORST OF ALL WAS STANDING RIGHT IN FRONT OF ME THE WHOLE TIME. HE KILLED DANNY AND IS GETTING AWAY WITH IT!"

Still, Hardy seems reluctant to give in, is almost getting more eager to convince her to come.

"This anger inside of you, boiling, you need to use that anger for getting justice for these little girls, Millah. I used to feel the same way, I feel the same way now! But this is exactly the kind of feeling we need to catch the Ashworths once and for all."

"I'm not going with you! Solve it yourself!"

He tries another time. "So what, you are gonna keep on standing here, crying, while no one cares about you here? While you know you're all alone right now? There's nothing to do for you here. Nothing at all."

She surprises even herself with the calmness she answers him, since she has never felt so angry before in her life. "You can go to hell. To hell with your new heart and your blindness for everything around you except for yourself. And _your_ justice. Because this is only about you. You don't give a shit about anything or anyone. You only care about yourself and your career. I see why you don't have any friends, _Sir_. You're pathetic at even the slightest piece of what we call _emotions_. You can solve it yourself. Or don't. I honestly don't care. Screw you."

She turns on her heels and moves away from him, towards somewhere she doesn't even know, never looking back to the man who came the closest to a friend she had the last few months. And who she now had offended in the worst way possible.

* * *

After her outburst, Alec Hardy removes himself slowly from the courthouse. He feels all eyes staring at him, since about everyone just heard Ellie Miller practically blaming him for being the worst human being possible. And when he secretly looks up for a few seconds, looking anyone in the eye who's staring at him too, he knows Miller just told him what they all think about him. A worthless human being, and a useless detective as well.

He pulls up the collar of his coat, trying to get as invisible as possible, and takes some large strides to finally exit the building. In a glimpse, he sees Joe Miller leaving by taxi, and another ping of guilt hits him. Was Miller true? Would this case have been solved if he hadn't been the lead investigator? Didn't he also screw up the Gillespie's case, just because he so eagerly wanted it to solve?

Maybe he was the worst cop in Britain after all. Maybe he shouldn't have ever leave Scotland. Or even better, he shouldn't have ever become a cop.

All the satisfying feelings he had felt after waking up from that surgery were gone. She had succeeded in smashing all his new hopes and dreams he had about Sandbrook. And Joe Miller. And Broadchurch. There was no place for him here, not now, not ever.

With his eyes fixed on the road beneath him the whole time, he increased his pace to flee towards his boathouse, and to flee from everything concerning her. Ellie Miller.

* * *

Tess immediately senses something's wrong. Let's say, more wrong than expected. She had followed the verdict from a distance, and had anticipated on an angry Alec and an evening of discussions, or even fighting. And somehow, she was looking forward to it. Because after yesterday, after their intimate conversations, her taking care of him, him being so kind and nice to her, she had a feeling that everything could be alright. If only she would put some energy in it. Tell him her side of the story and let him speak his'. And maybe, even maybe, the evening would end up with the two of them agreeing on trying to get together again. Just maybe.

But the moment Tess saw him walking towards the house, she knew that scenario wouldn't happen tonight. Something was up, and it was going to be terrible.

And that night they fought. Not like she intended to, but they really fought. Or more, she was fighting with him. For about the first time in his life she could remember, he wasn't fighting back. It almost looked like he had giving up. No matter what she said or did, he kept on answering with the same words.

"Just go, Tess. I'm no good for you. And maybe you're not good for me too. But I'm definitely not good for you. Or for anyone for that matter."

The first time she heard it, she was struck by it. "Excuse me?! When did you make that one up? After you took the blame for pendant? After you took the blame for Joe Miller? Well, I'm going to tell you something: You. are. not. to. blame. for. that. None of that is your fault. You know how the pendant got stolen. And it certainly wasn't you who got Joe Miller out. You had him arrested for Christ's sake. It was you who found out he was the killer."

But Alec Hardy wasn't to be reasoned with. Stubborn as always, he had taken the truth from someone whom he had gotten very fond of these last months. Whom he had trusted more than he had trusted himself. Ellie Miller. She blamed him. Therefore, he blamed himself. End of story.

"I'm sorry Tess, but you have to go. I'm not changing my mind. You can't be with me. You shouldn't want to be."

"And what about Lisa and Pippa then? You are going to stop chasing after their murderer as well?"

He hasn't really thought about that, but knew the answer anyway.

"I won't ever stop chasing him. But I need to do that on my own. I can't bring any of you along with it." Again, Alec looked at Tess with an expression that didn't leave any room for arguing with him.

Tess tried one last hopeless effort. "And what about Daisy?"

 _Daisy_. His only real light of his existence. The one choice he didn't regret. But deep in his heart, he knew he wasn't good for Daisy either. _You only care about yourself._ Maybe Miller's words were true. It was about time he shut everyone out. For everyone else's sake.

"She hates me most of the time anyway. It's better she doesn't see me for a while."

And that was the end of it. Tess knew it.

"When did you get this stubborn? Before all of this happened, before the whole pendant story, you used to be so soft, so nice. You were Daisy's whole word. You were _my_ world."

Tears started to roll along her cheeks, and she noticed the watery eyes of her ex-husband as well. But he didn't reply. He just stared at her. Looking all pitiful, helpless, and handsome.

Tess finally bowed her head and starting packing her things. After a while of just standing where she had left him, Alec started to help her out. In complete silence, they finished the task and soon her bags were packed. He helped her carry the bags towards her car and still watched in silence while she walked around and opened the driver's door. She took one last look at him, and realised how incredibly vulnerable he looked. Fragile. And thin. He must've lost many pounds due to his condition, the diet they put him on, and all the pressure of trying to solve something he may never could. She felt the stinging of tears in the corner of her eyes again.

"Just look after yourself, okay? Don't destroy yourself. There are still people who care about you. And you'll find it out, one way or the other. But just don't give up on yourself in the meantime. Please? Do it for Daisy?"

He looked at her while keeping his balled fists in his pockets to prevent her from seeing him on the brick of breaking down. He could only nod and did just that. She seemed to be satisfied with his answer since she finally set down behind the wheel and started to drive away from him.

* * *

He slowly walked back towards his house and settled himself on his bed. The rest of the night he just sat there, staring to nothing in particular, thinking about everything in particular. He never thought about eating, or drinking anything. He never thought about taking his suit or tie off. He just sat there. Nothing happened. And nobody came around. He was, indeed, all alone right now.

* * *

When she entered her house with Tom right behind her, she still felt miserable about the verdict. In fact, she had needed to stop the car alongside the road twice to throw up. Tom had just sat there, watching her from the passenger's seat, and had said nothing. And she knew why. Nothing was left to be said, and everything had been said with those two words.

 _Not guilty_.

She tried to pick up the pieces she had left, and started to make a sandwich for herself and Tom. She settled herself next to her oldest son and after a while, they did however started talking. About nothing in particular and about everything in particular. They even laughed a couple of times when Tom brought up anecdotes of their time together when he was younger. But mostly they cried together. During that night, she felt herself getting stronger and knew she still had two boys to fight for. And she knew she would fight for them until her last dying breath.

Very late during that night, they were interrupted by her mobile phone ringing. She looked at the screen, and in surprise read Beth's name on it. Her heart was beating in her chest when she took the call.

"Beth?"

She heard the woman on the other side of the line sniffing as a result of hours and hours of crying, Ellie knew. The next words she had never expected to hear from her former best friend.

"We're going to take care of him, Ellie. Get him out of our lives forever. You with us?"

Although she had no idea what Beth meant with that, Ellie knew she would do whatever it took to make that happen.

"Yes. I'm with you. Always."

"Good. We call you. Tomorrow morning."

She ended the call and continued talking to Tom, with a tiny feeling of hope raising up in her chest.

She didn't think about Lisa, Pippa and the Ashworths that night. She didn't think about Alec Hardy that night either.

* * *

He never knew when he fell asleep. He assumed he never would after everything that had happened the last two days. But he did. He never planned on falling asleep so soundly he never heard his front door being opened and a man slowly making his way towards him.

When he did wake up with a sense that something was wrong, it was already too late. He woke up with a jolt and a jolt from his ICD, and tried to fold his hands around the huge hand now closing in on his neck, slowly pushing the air out of him. His eyes became wide when he looked right into the man's face he immediately recognized. The grip around his neck became tighter, although he felt like he wasn't going down that easily.

Just when he started to free the hand around his neck a little and felt a small gasp of fresh air enter his throat, he felt a gun pulled firmly against his left temple.

"Finally, it took about forever for you to fall asleep. Now lay still and don't scream, or I'll shoot you in the head".

* * *

That was it, chapter two!

Let me know what you think :)


	3. Chapter 3: Dealings

I will let the original plot keep coming up in my story until a certain point. Because several aspects of the show are just too good to not use it. But it will get more of my own story as it progresses :)

* * *

As promised, Beth called her early the next morning. Both Tom and she had fallen asleep on the couch, a bowl of crisps that had stand between them had been long shattered on the floor with the remaining crisps in it.

Ellie swore under her breath when she heard the phone ringing. At first, she didn't recognize where exactly she was, but the moment she saw Tom shifting comfortably in her embrace, a small smile crept upon her face. _Still so young yet already so grownup._

Another ring from the phone woke her from her almost pleasant thoughts. Soon, she cursed again when she stood barefooted in the leftovers of the crisps and bumped her other foot against the bowl. She slowly tried to reach her phone which was laying on the cupboard not so far from here, all the while leaving a trail of crisps in her steps.

She didn't need to look at the caller's ID to know who it was.

"Beth, I..."

A resolute voice interrupted her. "Before you start to speak, are you still with us?"

Although a small part of her had the feeling something was not right, Ellie didn't dare speak up at the woman who had just lost it all. _Because of me_.

"All the way."

"Good. Can you meet us at the beach house?"

Ellie stammered. "You mean…"

"Yes, I mean _the_ beach house."

Both of them swallowed a large lump that was forming in their throats.

"When?"

"Now?"

Since Fred was still not there and probably wouldn't be until she would call her sister she was ready to take him back home again, there was only one person still left to take into account. She turned around and looked at the sleeping form of Tom, who hadn't even stirred when she had gently pushed him off of her to pick up the phone. _He can't know about this. Not now, not ever. He needs to be able to live a somewhat normal life._ And suddenly it dawned on her. _And that's only possible when Joe Miller is out of their lives forever. No matter the costs._

"I'll leave right away." She didn't even hear the sigh of relief on the other side of the line. She hung up, didn't change her clothes. She only scribbled down a small note for Tom for him to read to wake up, saying she would be home soon. Without looking back, she walked towards the door, put on her familiar orange jacket and soundlessly opened and shut the front door again, to finally reach her car and drive away.

* * *

Mark was much too easy on Joe, considering the circumstances.  
"You are coming with us." Joe awkwardly stepped into the house, _the_ house, that would be haunted forever. He suddenly stood eye to eye with the three people that hated him the most in the world.  
"Sit down." Beth didn't intend to show only the slightest of compassion towards the murderer of her only son.

"No." Joe tried, but failed miserably. _This is going to be the end of me._

"Sit down." Reluctantly, Joe did as Beth asked of him.

"Do you know how many knives there are in here?" Beth didn't wait for an answer. "Fourteen. I counted them while I was waiting. Thought about which one was best to use on you."

Trying to defend himself for what was worth, Joe opened his mouth.

"No no, don't open your mouth. You don't get to speak." Knowing better than to interfere, Joe obeyed.

"You could've kept one bit of your humanity. You could've faced up to what you've done. Taken your punishment. Been a decent human being." Beth started laughing ironically. "What am I saying. You're not _that_ , you can't ever have been. When you die, no one will mourn for you. We could kill you in here, dump your body on the beach. No one would care. No one would notice." Now, Joe knew it for sure. _They're going to kill me._

But instead, Beth continued. "But we are more than you. We…I will not be broken by this. We all get to live. But you, you have no life left. Not here."

In one last feeble attempt, Joe _did_ open his mouth.

"I was found innocent."

And this was it. This was the last straw Ellie needed to completely break down. Although she more or less promised Beth she would just be there to strengthen their story, she couldn't fight the urge to kill him right here and then. _But Tom… but Fred._ Just as Beth had said, unlike Joe they still had some humanity left. Even though she had made so many mistakes in her life. She would not be broken by this. She would not see Tom and Fred broken by this.

"Shut up, just shut up you piece of shit." Joe looked shocked, not expecting the fierceness of his wife to speak up to him like that. _I loved her so much._

"I'm sorry." Although tears were welling up in his eyes, still they were too late. And somehow, he knew that.

"You're not sorry. If you were sorry, you would have pleaded guilty." To try to compose just a little but, Ellie took one deep breath before putting the nail on her husband's coffin.

"You heard what she said, you're leaving and you're never coming back. And you will never see either of your children again." The shock on his face almost resembled sweet revenge, Ellie thought.

"You can't do that."

"O, I can do that. If you try to see them, if you follow them, if you go to their schools, if you contact them in any way, I will kill you. And unlike you, I will face the consequences. You are _dead_ to us, do you understand?"

And that was it. That was the last time she would see her husband. Or soon to be ex-husband. Father to her children. Love of her life for all she knew.

"Now you're coming with us." Mark unceremoniously let Joe out of the beach house, out of their lives forever. Or at least, that was what she thought. Still, she couldn't help the thought they have been too mild to him, letting him go so easily.

Both women looked at each other at the same time, without saying a word. Their expressions were, once again, all and the same. _You were strong back there. You are strong, and you will stay strong from now on. You will.  
_ But neither of them needed to say it out loud. And still, this didn't mean they were back together again as friends. No, that time was over and long gone, both of them knew it. But for that moment, that little while, it almost felt okay again. It almost felt right.

* * *

Although Hardy still tried to squeeze out of the hand holding his neck in a hold grip, the strength with which he tried to do that had been weakened since a gun was now pointed at the side of his face, ready to blow his brains out. And although he knew the person standing above him would be more than capable of it, he couldn't hold back his words of surprise.

"YOU?!" The word came out as a hiss since he only had so much room left to breath, and soon again he found the hand around his neck squeezing harder.

"Shut up."

Reluctantly, Hardy did as he was told.

"Now, are you going to be a big boy and be quiet and cooperate? Or you want me to squeeze the last energy out of you right here and now?"

Alec, however, didn't stop fighting and again felt the hand press harder, now completely suffocated him.

"For a detective, you know this is quite a stupid location. No cameras, no people living in the places next to you for miles because they all have _actual houses_ to live in, instead of _this_. You're pretty much alone in here. But didn't we already know that?"

Somehow, Hardy got the feeling this man had been watching him for quite some time, probably overhearing his conversation with Tess as well. _Pretty much alone. Pretty much completely alone._ His trial of thoughts was interrupted by the fact that about the last of the air he had left was pushed out of him. He didn't even know how long the hold of the hand had been there, but it must've been already some time since he felt his brain starting to shut down.

"Are you going to be quiet and cooperate?!"

There was nothing else left for him to do. And so, he nodded the best he could. And right before he thought his answer had been go unnoticed, he could feel himself being able to get a full gulp of air again. He started coughing involuntarily, yet that had been a stupid mistake. Next thing he knew, the side of the gun found the left side of his temple with a force, slapping his head into the other side of the pillow hard.

"I said, no sound!" Although the inner grumpy detective in him wanted to reply with the fact that his attacker hadn't said such a thing at all, he restored himself and did as he was told. He focused on his breathing, trying not to make a sound, while inwardly his brain was in overdrive to find a way out of this situation.

A hand grabbed his chin, forcing to face his attacker once again.

"Good, now sit up and be quiet."

Alec did as he was told, meanwhile preventing the dizziness from overcoming him. The gun was back and was put against his forehead.

"You're coming with me."

"I'm not…" Again, the gun collided against his face, his jaw this time, and he did the best he could not to make a sound again.  
"Seriously, fella. Do you have a dead wish? I don't want to hear your pathetic voice again. Stand up and start walking."

 _This was it_. He didn't have the power to overtake him, but he would've the advantage of his full body length to maybe take his attacker by surprise. So, Hardy slowly pushed himself in a standing position and standing right in front of the man with the gun. With a slick move, his right arm flew out and got a hold of the gun. The man looked surprised, and Hardy took advantage to point the gun to a point above his head and use his right knee to collide with his attacker's knee pit. The attacker crumbled down only a little bit, yet soon Hardy's victory came to an end. With a painful chest and wound, a left arm unable to use and the dizziness the cause of two blows against his head, Hardy was no match. The attacker's left arm rose up and a fist came up towards his face and throat multiple times, until Hardy couldn't do anything else than letting go of the gun. The gun fell to the ground, and two hands grabbed his shirt and shoved him into the wooden pole next to his bed with full force, knocking Hardy out cold for at least a minute.

When he woke up again, the gun was back and he felt one of his towels in his hands, wringing wet. He looked up although he couldn't quite focus yet.

"Clean this mess up, make the bed and start walking." The gun pointed towards a place behind his head. Hardy slowly turned around and saw the stain of his own blood covering the wood right when the smell of bleach started to crinkle up his nose. He looked at the towel and one more time towards his attacker, and had no options left but to obey.

After cleaning up his own blood, he walked out the house on his socks, towards a black car that could barely be seen between the bushes. He stood still next to it, waiting for another command. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the trunk getting opened and his weekend bag and shoes thrown inside of it. Soon, the gun was pressing against the fresh wound on the back of his head, and Hardy hissed.  
"Open the door and step inside." Holding back his words, he did as he was told. The moment he sat down, he felt a cloth being put against his mouth fiercely. Just as he was starting to resist, the gun was pressed against his throat.  
"Don't fight it."

But he couldn't help it. In those last seconds before unconsciousness overtook him, he saw his life flashing by. What had gone wrong?

 _Joe. Lisa. Pippa. Lee. Claire. Tess._

 _Daisy._

And there it was, the last person he thought of.

 _Ellie Miller._


	4. Chapter 4: Thoughts

**Let's continue this! :)**

* * *

"You did what?!"

"I told ya, he cleaned everything up and I checked. He didn't miss a spot! No one'll find out."

"I can't believe this, this isn't according to plan."

"It never is. We just have to play it neatly, and no one will notice until we're far and away from here."

"Seriously, you're taking over my plan now? Who made it up in the first place?!"

"Oh, stop whining. It'll work out, just wait and see. I stick to my part, but what about yours?"

Silence.

"Have you heard from her already?"

"She'll come."

"And will she agree?"

"She will, for sure. Just stick to your part, okay? Then I'll stick to mine."

* * *

During her walk back home, Ellie Miller just kept on repeating the scenario that had just taking place on her head.

 _You're dead to us_.

The only thing that had been satisfactory about the whole intervention was _that_ look on his face. One of total shock. But again, from very deep within she still couldn't resist the urge to come to his need, hug him and ask him to make dinner for her. As he had done so many years in a row now. Her life had been perfect, her life had been joyful with so much love and devotion.

 _Until that moment_.

She wishes she could take it all back, one way or the other. Either never meeting Joe, or finding out as from second one that he had done it. If only she had been a perfect, glorious detective.

She shook her head. What was she babbling? Even the almost perfect DI Hardy hadn't found out until weeks later. He had found out sooner, alright, but not soon enough. She hadn't been the only one to blame.

 _Alec Hardy._

Ellie snorted. The stubborn bastard. Always pushing so hard, always doing it so grumpy. One'd say you'd get tired of yourself hearing you scold at everyone, never laugh, and pushing everyone away. But no, not Alec Hardy. He just kept on pushing and pushing. Even after his heart had stopped. And even after he has gotten his surgery. Not a moment's rest for him and the people around him. No one would want to have a life like that.

But again, it was admirable as well. She probably was the only one to see it, especially here in Broadchurch, but he always went all-in and never stopped until he got the people responsible.

Again, she shook her head. Well, she'd rather be a lesser detective and a loving person, than being Alec Hardy. Or so she thought.

How would he been? Was he now chasing Lee and Claire Ashworth on his own? Would he still have any persuasion left to find another sidekick, another her?

 _Maybe I should send him a message. Just telling him he's an asshole. And maybe how he was._

Absentmindedly, she took her mobile out of her small leather shoulder bag. Without her knowing, she had walked all the way home, whilst leaving her car at the beach house. She looked at her phone and saw it completely blank. No message, no missed calls, no nothing.

She had already opened her text screen, yet she hesitated right there and then.

Should she text him? Why hadn't he texted her? Should she always be the responsible, kind one? She hadn't quite forgotten what he had said back at the courthouse, she could remember it very clearly still.

 _No one cares about you here._

O, he had been mistaken. He had been mistaken so badly. The anger boiled up inside her again, right when the front door of her own house opened. She looked up and saw Lucy standing there, all confused.

"What are you doing?"

Ellie hastily put away her phone. "Nothing. Where's Fred?"

Lucy looked at her with a frown, but knew better than to argue right now. "Inside. I thought you'd be too, but then there was a note and no you. Where's your car?"

Ellie smashed her forehead with her palm when she realised. "Fuck."

Lucy, instead just opened the door for her. "Just come in already, we'll get your damn car later. I'm trying to make some lunch."

"O, great. That should be fun." Both sisters laughed a little at the sarcastic joke, knowing full well Lucy wasn't exactly a top-chef. Ellie stepped inside and even found herself chatting with her sister about ordinary stuff whilst hanging up her familiar jacket.

She walked ahead and noticed Fred and immediately the toddler crawled towards her with a smile. She threw her bag aside, never once thinking about Alec Hardy that night.

She never heard the text message coming in either.

* * *

His head was pounding viciously, alternating with a sharp pain at the back of his head. He hissed without a bare sound, not yet knowing what had happened or where he was. When he regained a bit more consciousness, he started to recall it all.

 _Choking_. _Gun_. _Blood._ _Bleach. Car._ _Nothing._ But where was he?

He hissed again when the sharp pain made itself more present. When most of the pain subsided again, he slowly tried to open his eyes to take in his surroundings. It took him more effort than expected, and a throbbing pain at his left side of his face probably was the cause of that. He tried not to move yet, uncertain where he was and what he could arouse when he did.

He half opened his eyes to tried to look around him as from underneath his eyelids. On his left and right side where stone walls and not much else, whereas before him was a long hallway of nothingness. The blackness in front of him seemed to go on for ages since he couldn't see the end of it. No one to see though. Lastly, he looked up, and found a stone ceiling a good while away from him. Otherwise, there seem to shine through just a small beam of light on his left side from far ahead, but he couldn't yet decipher if it was another hallway or just a light on the side of the wall. For now, he thought it didn't matter so much. He concluded one thing.

 _It must be some kind of dungeon._

The thought alone frightened him a bit, but he wasn't yet ready to give in to that fear. After looking around again and finding no one in the near vicinity, he thought it was safe enough to open his eyes completely. His left arm started to become painfully present, as well as the itchy feeling on his newly made surgical wound on his left side of his chest. He tried to change his sitting position, but soon found out he didn't have much room to change. With a loud clanging, his handcuffs hit the chain that was attached to it, and again to the wall.

 _Shit_.

He did, however, noticed no other chains and found out his legs were free, even so his mouth. A small feeling of joy crept up. Okay, enough possibilities to get out of this place then. He started shuffling around as best as he could with his movements being limited by his hands tied up as well as the throbbing pain coming from, well, _everywhere_.

 _How long has he been out for?_

He shook his head to move aside all thoughts that were irrelevant for now. Only think about what matters now. _Getting out of these chains and the hell out of here_. Finally, his fingers regained some feeling and started tingling, a sign for Hardy to start looking and feeling around for anything that would do. While tapping carefully, the ground came up empty. No stones, no sharp objects that could help him pry open these handcuffs. In a last feeble attempt, he searched for the only pockets he was able to reach, his back pockets. It felt like an eternity, but after several minutes his left pocket came up empty. _One last chance._ His fingers slipped into his right back pocket and at the bottom, the tips of his fingers suddenly came across something small. And sharp.

 _Miller's hairpin._

Hardy smiled his broadest smile he had for ages, and even let out a chuckle.

 _That damn hairpin_. He remembered it so vividly now, why he had that stupid hairpin in his back pocket. After Claire had done her hair, she had hated it. Hated the model the other woman had put it in. While they had continued working on the case, she hadn't stopped fidgeting with her hair, trying to at least got the model back in as she was used to. _As he liked it_. She had lost about all of the hairpins during that afternoon, and he obediently had picked them up one after the other to return in to her. But the last one she had lost right in front of the courthouse, and he hadn't got the time to return it to her. He would've done it later, for sure. But now, he was so glad he hadn't.

The memory about that moment, about her, made his smile last a bit longer. _Again, Miller would save the day. Would she already… miss him?_ Most probably not, he knew how badly he screwed up the last time he saw her. _She wants nothing to do with me. No one does._

His smile had disappeared, but still he wanted to get out of this place. To set things right. With some effort, he got the hairpin out of his pocket and let the object move around his fingers a couple of times, trying to find the best position to start with.

Just when he inserted the pin inside the lock of the handcuffs, his luck ran out. Footsteps were heard at the far end of the hallway and were approaching him. Approaching him _fast_. He quickly slid the pin in his pocket again and prepared himself for the worst.

* * *

The anger boiled up inside Hardy when he saw the person responsible for about all the misery in his life, standing in front of him.

He spat out his name with a taste of poison in his mouth. "Lee."

"Hello, _Alec_. How are you?"

Alec, instead, just rolled his eyes.

"I hope you're not feeling too uncomfortable. Or, well, maybe I do."

"Why did you do this, Lee? _Let me_ been kidnapped. To do what? Did I come too close to the truth?"

Suddenly, Lee crouched down and took Hardy's chin in his hand with full force.

"You know nothing about me. Or what happened. All you wanted to do was make my life a living hell. _Our lives_ , of Claire and me. You're the only one stubborn enough to not have giving up after all this time. It was about time you did that as well."

Alec jerked his face out of Lee's grip and came dangerously close to the other man's face. He looked angry.

"I will never give up, Lee. Never! I know you murdered those girls and you will pay for it, I swear."

Lee just stood up and smiled while looking over him.

"I think you can't demand anything in your position right now." Just to invigorate his words, he kicked hard and let his boot collide with the left side of Hardy's chest, making him crumble down and hiss in pain.

After the pain subsided enough to look up again, Alec's eyes were full of fire. "I will make you pay. I will."

Lee just laughed. "Stubborn arse. Just look at yourself. You're not even resembling a man anymore. I don't fear you."

"Wrong choice." Suddenly, Hardy remembered it all again. What had happened at his house. He looked up in surprise.

"And how on earth did you get Ri…"

Just at that moment, Ricky came into view, equalling Lee with an ugly smile on his face.

Still, Alec didn't understand just yet.

"Why are you involved, Ricky? Do you hate me so much?" He came across another reason for his involvement just right after that. "Or are you involved in the murders as well?"

Just as Lee had done, Ricky kneeled down and his face came an inch away from the detective.

"I guess you'll never find out now, he?"

"I will, and I shall."

Both men now just hovered above him, arms crossed.  
Lee spoke up. "And how exactly did you plan on doing that?"

Alec just gnarled and tried his biggest bluff. "Someone will come for me. They'll start looking for me, and it'll only be a matter of time before they'll find me and arrest you."

As an answer to that, Ricky took out Hardy's phone from his pocket and moved it towards Hardy's face close enough for him to see. Although he didn't have his glasses on, Alec could figure out the words that were visible in the screen. A text message sent to DS Miller. A message from his phone, to her.

His breathing stopped for only a short moment when he read the words _he_ had wrote to Miller.

 _Back to Sandbrook. Trying to patch things up again with Daisy. Get back to the job maybe. Good luck to you._

He looked up and saw two pair of eyes glistering in the dim light, both very content with this 'bright' idea that they had come up with.

It was Ricky again who minimized the distance between them again.

"And your lovely ex-wife received a similar message, telling her not to contact you soon. Now, see, I don't think _anyone_ is looking for you or coming for you. And no one wants to come for you anyway, you yourself made sure of that. You make it very easy for us, actually. You're all alone now. And before they even realize what happened, they will be far too late."

With those last words, they smashed his phone on the ground and broke it with full force. Lee stood on it one last time with his foot, making sure it was completely broken down.

Both of them smiling, they left Hardy alone again.


End file.
